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A July 4th message from a friend, to appreciate every day of the year...

As tawdry as it can all seem sometimes, the Bernard Madoff stuff and political gridlock, as I set the table this morning and tie my red white and blue ribbons on the candelabra, sprinkle out my same-colored confetti, the flag hangs, I unfurl the beat-up souvenir copy of the Declaration of Independence and see the beautiful signature of John Hancock and Jefferson and I still get goosebumps. Invariably when I read excerpts to my kids, I well up, and I am not a sentimental person.

But as I skimmed the language this morning, I was struck by the words "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." It made me feel thankful for the election last year, and whatever anyone's position, that there was such engagement and participation. When I get discouraged about the country and the world, a little taste of Independence Day makes me feel better.

Have a great 4th!

--Danna Breen, Portola Valley CA

From The Toxic Consumer (Karen Ashton and Elizabeth Salter Green, 2008)

"The first synthetic chemicals were created in the late 1800s, but it wasn't until after World War II that the industry really took off. Chemists previously working on chemical weapons for combat use realized that many of the deadly poisons they had been concocting had a useful peacetime role: to wage agricultural war against the various pests and insects that damage crops. Shortly after that came the realization that other synthesized chemicals of similar structure could be employed, at great profit, to "improve" our consumer products and way of life.

"This from DuPont in the 1950s:

"Better things through better living ... through chemistry"

... thereby heralding the coming of age of nonstick, easy-clean, disposable living. But, as most of us know from experience, there is no such thing as a free lunch. There's nearly always a downside when things come too easily--and this is one part of the story of man-made chemical production at the turn of the twenty-first century. Synthetic chemicals are largely used in consumer products to make things more attractive, easier to use, longer lasting, smoother gliding, and so on. But how enthusiastic would the average consumer be about a product if it also offered a significant dose of toxicity as part of its "new-and-improved" formula?

"As industry designed chemicals to make our lives better (and their profit margins greater), they failed to create tests to detect their effects in the environment or to ascertain what they would do to us or to our babies in the womb. In the meantime the chemicals were gradually invading every aquatic and terrestrial system in the world. It took us another forty years, until 1990, to finally face up to the reality that the same chemicals that had purported to improve our lives were also undermining the very fabric of what makes it possible for animals and humans to reproduce."

Why I'm doing what I'm doing.

When I was growing up, you heard the neighborhood children playing ball in the street after dinner. We knew everyone on the block, and we all looked out for each other. We didn't worry about what the turkey on the table was injected with, or whether our apples had been sprayed with pesticide, or whether the drug our mother was taking would cause infertility in her children.

I've been called a "nit-picker" by some... But I'm not seeking the negative; I'm seeking safe and simple. My focus right now is on "righting the wrongs" of my generation. I'm currently organizing a movement on the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose to replace ornamental landscaping with edible landscaping, promoting organic gardening and training the unemployed to test, detoxify and enrich soil, re-establish native plants and use the land we live on to nourish us. I'm working with a number of nonprofit organizations and a growing number of volunteers who want to make this happen. This is my passion!

To support my volunteer efforts, I've been asked to be a Founding Leader of the first home party plan in the United States offering certified organic skincare. I'm also distributing a new line of household cleaning products that contain no poisons--entirely enzyme-based ("WowGreen" --U.S. manufacturer, no "green washing" here, and reasonable prices).

I want to be a positive force for a healthier world in whatever small ways I can. Except for synthetic medications that my body needs to survive in this day and age, I will not put anything knowingly in or on my body or inside or outside of my home that will wash down the drains and pollute the environment. It's the old adage, "If you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

I believe in educating people, and helping others open their eyes to what's happening in the world around us. Why do you think chemical sensitivities and allergies and asthma and cancer are on the rise? I believe that short-sighted, high-profit invention, consumer desire for everything "new-and-improved," and extraordinary regulatory laxity have played a role in causing the global issues we're facing now. Did you know that since the chemical industry took off in the '40s and '50s, over 80,000 new chemical compounds have been introduced to the marketplace--with minimal testing for their impact on health and the environment?

It's time for us all to pull our heads out from under the sand and take a stand. One small stand--or big stand--at a time. And I believe in picking nits--if you don't start with your own head, those bloodsuckers will end up infesting everyone else you care about...